Hi everyone-
I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I am spending the day taking down my fall decorations and getting Christmas stuff out. It's a nice day outside so after i finish up this post about my yummy deserts i am going to get a jump start on some of my outdoor decorations.
First things first, check out these Thanksgiving Deserts. I apologize for the blurry pictures, i have no idea what was going on with my camera.
I baked a cranberry apple cobbler to take to my my grandma's thanksgiving. The best part about it was i started cutting up my apples and doing my filling on Tuesday night. I think it works best that way because it gives the apples time to soften.
So Thanksgiving morning i got up early, put my filling into an 8x8 baking dish, grabbed my favorite leaf cookie cutter and a roll of pie dough. Yes, i used store bought pie dough. It's wonderful and easy, i just couldn't help myself.
I baked the filling for 30 minutes on 350º-covered with foil, then added my leaves in a staggered pattern, brushed them with an egg and sprinkled with sugar. Then baked for an additional 30 minutes covered in foil.
It's a wonderful desert and i plan on making it again for a couple of Christmas parties that i am attending this year. See the recipe below, i originally got it from Everyday Occasions, another great blog…check it out.
Leaf Topped Apple and Cranberry Cobbler
Filling:
10 apples cored and peeled
3/4 cup of dried or fresh cranberries
2 teaspoons of orange zest
4 tablespoons of orange juice
1/2 cup of sugar
1.2 cup of flour
1 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
My next recipe if a pecan pie. Just a classic that i found in my Southern Living magazine. Again, store bought pie dough. One of these days i will do one from scratch-i promise, but for now, this one is really great.
I also added some fall pie crust cutouts to the pie-it's so very simple and really makes it much more festive. I got them from William Sonoma and plan on getting some Christmas ones as well.
I have seen them added to pies and then baked, but in this case i just popped them in the oven on 350º after my pie was done.. They baked for about 7-10 minutes then i decorated my pie with them.
Back to my pecan pie…. Again… store bought pie dough…
Pecan Pie Recipe:
Filling:
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1/3 cup of Corn Syrup (light or dark, i used dark-it gives a richer taste)
1 cup of packed brown sugar
1/3 cup of heavy cream
2 cups of pecans
Preheat the oven to 350º and assemble your pie dough in your pie plate.
For the pie filling combine the butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar in a saucepan, heat on low until the butter has completely melted. Remove from heat then add the heavy cream and pecans.
Add the filling to your pie plate and bake for 20 minutes. Oven temps vary quite a bit so keep a close eye on it after 15 minutes of baking.
Let it cool and then decorate your pie with cut-outs as shown above. As mentioned earlier i am going to get some Christmas ones and add them to everything this holiday season. I can already see Christmas morning quiches and great brie cheeses covered in pastry dough adorned with holiday cutouts.
I also added a little gobble banner that i made with my cricket machine as i previously mentioned in my Thanksgiving Goodies post.
One more thing that i did this year and is a must for a topping of this pecan pie is fresh whipping cream. It was a last minute thought as i had some left over from the pecan pie recipe.
I simply added the rest of the heavy cream that i had in my container left over from the pecan pie, added a couple of large scoops of sugar then whipped them in my mixer. Preferably with a whisk attachment but i couldn't locate mine.
Once the cream was at a thick consistency i added it to a bowl, and tied my cross grain stamped ribbon and a foil embossed sticker that i purchased from William Sonoma.
It took no effort at all, and made a lovely addition to the desert table.
I hope you try out these recipes for the upcoming Holiday Season. They have already certainly made it to my recipe box.
Stay tuned in the next few days for some Christmas decoration tips and inspiration-both indoors and outdoors. My farmer is still working in the field so it appears that i am on my own for outdoor stuff.
